Wide band gap (WBG) semiconductor devices are expensive and time consuming to manufacture. For example, gallium nitride (GaN) materials in a majority of cases are formed by a heteropitaxial (epi) growth process where GaN is deposited on a semiconductor carrier substrate having a different lattice structure (or lattice constant) than the deposited GaN. The lattice mismatch between the GaN and the carrier substrate may create defects, dislocations, and strains that negatively impact device yields and performance.
More detrimental, the GaN layers and carrier substrate may have different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE). Thermal processing (e.g. GaN epitaxial growth) can crack or delaminate the GaN or bow, and in some cases break, the carrier substrate. The different CTEs restrict substrate wafer size limiting scale and preventing reduction of the overall manufacturing cost of WBG devices and solutions. Therefore, despite progress in the art, there is a need for improved methods and systems related to GaN materials and devices.